Suggested Reading On Sustainable Economics

The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local, edited by Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith, Sierra Club Books, 1996.
A collection of essays by 43 of the leading economic, agricultural, cultural, and environmental experts, "who charge that free trade and economic globalization are producing exactly the opposite results from what has been promised." They make clear that "we need to reverse course, turning away from globalization toward a revitalized democracy, local self-sufficiency, and ecological health."

New Money For Healthy Communities by Thomas H. Greco, Jr., Self published, P.O. Box 42663, Tucson, Arizona 85733, 1994.
The author is a community economist, networker, writer, and consultant, as well as Director of the Community Information Resource Center, a networking hub, which provides information access, and administrative support for organizations and groups involved in community improvement, social justice, and sustainability. Gordon Davidson writes of this book that it, "lifts the veil on the secret power of money creation and lucidly explains how alternative currencies can give this power back to those who create wealth. It is destined to be a classic handbook for community activists and all conscious people."

If Women Counted: A New Feminist Economics by Marilyn Waring, Harper and Row, 1988.
A Member of Parliament in New Zealand's National Government, the author of Women, Politics, And Power, Waring describes how women's housework, volunteer work, and childbearing and rearing, along with ecological resources, are automatically excluded from value in economic theory, while war-related and ecologically destructive practices are given top priority. Her analysis is brilliant, insightful, and sobering.

For The Common Good: Redirecting The Economy Toward Community, The Environment, and A Sustainable Future by Herman E. Daly and John B. Cobb, Jr., Beacon Press, 1989.
'In this searching critique of "mainstream" economics, World Bank economist Herman Daly and theologian John Cobb demonstrate how our growth-oriented, industrial economy has led to environmental disaster and offer an exciting new paradigm for economics, public policy, and social ethics.'

Beyond Growth: The Economics Of Sustainable Development by Herman E. Daly, Beacon Press, 1996.
Mother Jones writes, "Considered by most to be the dean of ecological economics, Herman E. Daly elegantly topples many shibboleths in BEYOND GROWTH." Above all he challenges the conventional notions of growth and offers humane and insightful alternatives.

Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image, And Manipulation In Visual Communication by Ann Marie Seward Barry, State University of New York Press, 1997.
Seward Barry explores "visual intelligence" as a basic and indispensable tool of cultural survival. She offers both a sophisticated and practical manual for those who seriously want to know how images are processed, how they function in relation to our innermost beings, and how they form the psychological fabric of our political, social, and economic environment. She critically examines the visual power and logic of images, cutting across a variety of areas: perceptual psychology, art, television, film, literature, advertising, and politics.

The Ecology Of Commerce: A Declaration Of Sustainability by Paul Hawken, Harper Business, 1993.
Hawkens turns to the crucial question, "With every living system on the earth in decline, can we create profitable, expandable companies that do not destroy, directly or indirectly, the world around them? The answer and the launching point for this visionary book, starts with one simple but radical notion: Business is not just a reasonable agent for such change; it is the only mechanism powerful enough to reverse global environmental and social degradation…Hawken outlines a series of economic strategies that will overthrow the conventional wisdom among both economists and environmentalists."

Return to the Index of Synapse 45, Fall 1998